


eyes up, heels down

by Flametastic



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Autistic!Lena, F/F, Horses, Lillian is a bitch, SuperCorp, cute farm stuff, farrier!alex, farrier!kara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 12:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20275936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flametastic/pseuds/Flametastic
Summary: Lena is a girl from an affluent family, the Luthors. She enjoys horses, ice cream, and sunny days. Although she's from a well-off family, her life is far from picture-perfectAfter getting diagnosed with autism at age three, her life would never be the same again, her mother pretends everything is fine cause what picture perfect family has a daughter that's not perfect?At least Lena has gotten some tough skin from her childhood experience, she still is affected by autism, but is better at concealing it due to her cold mother.  Kara is a literal ray of sunshine, a farrier from the small town of Midvale, who works with her older sister Alex. She can't help but to not stop thinking about one of her clients, Lena. Lena to her seems closed-off, but she soon realizes that Lena just needs someone to be there for her.Lena being the socially awkward lesbian she is, has a hell of a lot of trouble just telling Kara how much she means to her (a whole lot).In the meantime, she spends her time riding her horse, Sunny, named after her childhood toy horse who she may or may not still sleep with at nightcue the lesbian dorkiness and a yee haw bisexual just trying to catch the attention of a high class lesbian





	eyes up, heels down

Lena Luthor has been told all her life to put on a certain image. She came from a family of wealth, enough wealth to own a house with enough room for a family three times the size of her own. Her mother, Lillian, was obsessed with her image, and her family’s presence, she hosted huge parties in the Luthor estate, inviting high class people with enough money together to buy a small country. So when her daughter was born, she was ecstatic. She had already had a son, a few years older than Lena, but she had always wanted a daughter to carry on her family’s reputation of class and elegance. Her husband, Lionel, has technically the one with the money, but everyone knew who the real head of the Luthor estate was. Lena was like most babies when she was born; a healthy weight, and in outstanding health. However, when Lena got older, she didn't act in the way other children did. She barely looked at her parents in the eye, was late to talk (it took her until she was three to actually start talking). This did not fit her mother’s vision of a perfect family. After Lena had shown some signs of not developing socially and cognitively as her son had, she took Lena to a specialist.

Lena remembers that day clearly. She was around three at the time, almost ready to go in to preschool when her mother took her to that office. Her mother had tried (and failed) to get Lena into something that wasn't her cowgirl pj’s she had received for her third birthday. After trying to reason with the three year old, Lillian just sighed and let it happen. Lena gave a small smile in victory and went to grab her favorite stuffed animal, a palomino horse named Sunny, who her father had named and given to her when she was an infant. She went and grabbed her mother’s hand and off they went.

On the lengthy drive to the child psychologist’s office, Lillian attempted to lure Lena into a conversation, but Lena ignored her face in the rear view mirror, and looked down at her lap, and started to play with Sunny. When they got to their destination, Lillian lifted Lena out of her car seat and carried her inside. After checking in, they waited until someone called Lena’s name

“Lena Luthor?”

Her mother quietly got up from her seat and led Lena by the hand into the psychologist’s  
office.

Lillian sat stiffly in an armchair near the doctor’s desk which had a shiny nameplate engraved with “Dr. Everett”, while Lena sat nervously in her lap. Lena remembers how anxious she was in that environment but she recalls that the doctor was very nice.  
“Hi, I’m Hope Everett, it's a pleasure to meet you and your daughter”, Dr. Everett had said, to break the silence in the room. She stuck out her hand and Lillian firmly shook it. 

Dr. Everett turned her attention to Lena.  
“That’s a pretty pony you’ve got there Lena! What’s his name?”

Lena didn't respond.

“Come on Lena, tell the nice lady about your horse”

The prompting from her mother did not get Lena to speak  
The doctor gave her a small smile and directed her attention back to her mother.

“So I'm guessing that's part of the reason you decided to come visit my office today”  
Lillian gave a small sigh and replied, 

“Yes doctor, Lena doesn't talk to strangers, and if they’re not strangers, then she barely says a word. She barely shows excitement about anything, on Christmas Day when any child would normally be running down the stairs and causing a ruckus, much like her older brother Lex, she didn't even leave her room until my husband Lionel went to get her. She loves that horse toy more than anything else on this world and she never leaves the room without that thing. She also hates the tags in her clothing, I have to cut them all out or she throws a fit”.

“Well Mrs. Luthor, Lena definitely is different than most children her age, have you heard of Autism Spectrum Disorder before?” 

Lillian looked almost shocked before she quickly answered that she had, and then said.

“Well my daughter isn't dumb or anything, shes starting to read already so I hardly believe she has autism”

It took a moment for the doctor to say anything in response.

“Mrs. Luthor, with all due respect, there’s a reason they call it a spectrum, Lena may just have issues socializing and has sensory sensitivities, and not problems with anything regarding intelligence. Lena just needs accommodations, which the county provides a special preschool program for”.

Dr. Everett reaches into her desk drawer and pulls out a pamphlet, and hands it to Lena’s mother, which she hesitantly grabs.

“Lena will be able to interact with children like her and the teachers are able to help her reach goals and they know how to handle her breakdowns. My son went through a similar program and had a great experience, so I hope you consider it”.

“So what you are saying is that my daughter is autistic?”, Lillian said.

“Yes, Mrs. Luthor, but a diagnosis doesn't have to be bad news, now you know why Lena acts the way she acts, this makes it easier to help her. I'll also give you some more local resources to help you out, and also there's a small group of parents that meet in the YMCA every Saturday to talk about their experiences with their children”.

Lillian and Doctor Everett talked for a little while longer, and then Lena and her left.

Lillian never signed up for any of those programs.

~

Lena, now 18, wonders how her life would have been if her mother had done what the doctor had suggested. She had gone through regular schooling, as her mother had wanted. And by “regular schooling” her mother meant the private school two streets over. Lena did not thrive in that environment, her being different from the other children at that school. She did, however, excel academically. She was always the top of her class, so the teachers never questioned her mental state. To them, she was just a shy girl. Lillian never told anyone about Lena’s diagnosis, in fear that her image of a pristine family would be ruined. She told everyone that Lena was just sensitive and shy, “as girls are”. Instead of speech therapy and such, Lillian put her through a rigorous schedule of activities, including horseback riding, the only one she didn't mind. In fact, she adored it. She proved to be a natural from the first time she rode at age seven. So much so, that for her next birthday, her father bought Lena her own horse, well pony. 

His name was King Arthur, but Lena just called him Arthur. He was an even tempered, chestnut gelding with white socks on his rear legs and a blaze on his face. He stayed at the barn Lena rode at and Lena made an effort to nag her parents, mostly her father since her mother was not a fan of “such big, messy, beasts”, to see him as much as she could. 

Unlike her relationship with her mother, her relationship with her father was much better. He didn't talk about her diagnosis, but Lena knew that he believed it, but chose not to talk about it in order to keep the peace with his wife. He had gone to all of her horse shows and was very proud of his daughter.  
As the years went on, Lena naturally became more independent. She showed a love for other animals besides horses, (they always stayed her favorite however). It was no surprise to her father that she decided she wanted to study to become a veterinarian. Her mother didn't approve, she wanted Lena to study business, in order to help with the family company, Luthor Corp. Her father was very supportive, but told her she'd have to come up with the money to attend university. Because “There is no way in hell your mother is going to let me give you the money”. She did odd jobs, babysitting and of course, working at the barn. She made it to National City University, a good school which thankfully gave her grants due to her grades.  
She moved Arthur to a barn in the outskirts of National City, in a beach side town called Midvale. And that’s when Lena’s life started turning around.

**Author's Note:**

> first chapter of my first story, hope y'all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
> 
> edits are probably going to be made because I'm a dumbass


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